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BJSM Online First, published on March 4, 2017 as 10.

1136/bjsports-2016-096790
Review

The prognostic value of MRI in determining


reinjury risk following acute hamstring injury:
a systematic review
Moniek van Heumen,1 Johannes L Tol,2,3,4 Robert-Jan de Vos,5 Maarten H Moen,6,7
Adam Weir,2,8 John Orchard,9 Guus Reurink10

► Additional material is ABSTRACT return to play (RTP), which is frequently used as the
published online only. To view Background A challenge for sports physicians is to primary outcome following hamstring injury. No
please visit the journal online
(http://dx.doi.org/10.1136/ estimate the risk of a hamstring re-injury, but the current strong evidence for any MRI finding was reported.
bjsports-2016-096790) evidence for MRI variables as a risk factor is unknown. Nevertheless, moderate evidence was found that
Objective To systematically review the literature on the injuries without hyperintensity on fluid sensitive
1
Department of Sports Medicine, prognostic value of MRI findings at index injury and/or sequences are associated with a shorter time to RTP
VieCuri Medisch Centrum, and that injuries involving the proximal free tendon
return to play for acute hamstring re-injuries.
Venlo, Limburg, The Netherlands
2
Amsterdam Center of Evidence Data sources Databases of PubMed, Embase, are associated with a longer time to RTP.
Based Sports Medicine, MEDLINE, Scopus, CINAHL, Google Scholar, Web of Another clinically relevant outcome for muscle
Academic Medical Center, Science, LILACS, SciELO, ScienceDirect, ProQuest, injuries is the re-injury rate. Predicting re-injury
Amsterdam, The Netherlands SPORTDiscus and Cochrane Library were searched until remains a clinical challenge and given the extended
3
Department of Sports
Medicine, The Sports Physician 20 June 2016. time loss after a re-injury, it is important to iden-
Group, OLVG, Amsterdam, The Study eligibility criteria Studies evaluating MRI as tify risk factors. Possibly MRI is a suitable tool to
Netherlands a prognostic tool for determining the risk of re-injury for predict a hamstring re-injury after RTP.
4
Department of Sports Medicine, athletes with acute hamstring injuries were eligible for Three previous systematic reviews on this
Aspetar Orthopaedics and Sports topic,5–7 dating from 2011 to 2012, showed three
inclusion.
Medicine Hospital, Doha, Qatar
5
Department of Orthopaedics Data analysis Two authors independently screened MRI variables as risk factors for hamstring re-in-
and Sports medicine, Erasmus the search results and assessed risk of bias using jury: larger volume size of the initial trauma,5 7 a
MC University Medical Centre, standardised criteria from a consensus statement. A grade 1 hamstring injury at initial trauma compared
Rotterdam, The Netherlands best-evidence synthesis was used to identify the level with grade 0 and grade 2 injuries (classification
6
Department of Sports Medicine,
Bergman Clinics, Naarden, The of evidence. Post hoc analysis included correction for according to Peetrons)5 and greater length of the
Netherlands insufficient sample size. initial injury, seen as oedema (>6 cm long) on
7
The Sports Physician Group, Results Of the 11 studies included, 7 had a low and 4 MRI.6 Conflicting evidence is present for cross-sec-
Onze Lieve Vrouwe Gasthuis had a high risk of bias. No strong evidence for any MRI tional area (CSA) as a risk factor.5 7
West, Amsterdam, The Since then new data on the prognosis of
finding as a risk factor for hamstring re-injury was found.
Netherlands
8
Sports Groin Pain Centre, There was moderate evidence that intratendinous injuries hamstring injuries have been published. The publi-
Aspetar Orthopaedics and were associated with increased re-injury risk. Post hoc cation of new studies warranted an analysis whether
Sports Medicine Hospital, Doha, analysis showed moderate evidence that injury to the MRI findings at baseline (=time of index injury) or
Qatar biceps femoris was a moderate to strong risk factor for at RTP, are associated with hamstring re-injury. The
9
School of Public Health,
University of Sydney, Sydney, re-injury. purpose of this study was to systematically review
Australia Conclusion There is currently no strong evidence the literature on the value of MRI findings at base-
10
The Sports Physician Group, for any MRI finding in predicting hamstring re-injury line and/or RTP for predicting acute hamstring
Amsterdam, The Netherlands risk. Intratendinous injuries and biceps femoris injuries re-injuries.
showed moderate evidence for association with a higher
Correspondence to re-injury risk.
Moniek van Heumen, METHODS
Department of Sports Medicine, Systematic review registration Registration Registration in the PROSPERO international
VieCui Medisch Centrum, in the PROSPERO International prospective register prospective register of systematic reviews was
Tegelseweg 210, Venlo of systematic reviews was performed prior to study performed prior to study initiation (registration
5912 BL, The Netherlands; initiation (registration number CRD42015024620).
moniekvanheumen@gmail.com number CRD42015024620).

Revised 17 January 2017


Literature search
Accepted 23 January 2017
BACKGROUND The following databases were searched for relevant
Hamstring injuries are a prevalent injury in sports reports of individual studies: PubMed, Embase,
with high-speed running or activities requiring MEDLINE (Ovid), Scopus, CINAHL, Google
substantial hamstring lengthening. These inju- Scholar, Web of Science, LILACS, SciELO, Science-
ries are associated with significant time loss from Direct, ProQuest, SPORTDiscus and Cochrane
sports and high re-injury rates, despite efforts in the Library. Databases (regular and grey literature) were
To cite: van Heumen M,
prevention and management of these injuries.1–3 But searched without time restrictions until 20 June
Tol JL, de Vos R-J, et al. Br J
Sports Med Published Online what could be the meaning of specific MRI findings 2016. Our sensitive search strategy was assisted by
First: [please include Day for these injuries? a biomedical information specialist (WM Bramer)
Month Year]. doi:10.1136/ In our previous systematic review,4 we evalu- and contained both controlled vocabulary and free-
bjsports-2016-096790 ated the value of MRI for prognosis on the time to text terms (table 1).
van Heumen M, et al. Br J Sports Med 2017;0:1–10. doi:10.1136/bjsports-2016-096790 1
Copyright Article author (or their employer) 2017. Produced by BMJ Publishing Group Ltd under licence.
Review

Table 1 Search strategy


Search strategy Records
Embase 210
(hamstring/exp OR ((thigh/de OR buttock/de) AND ('musculoskeletal injury'/de OR 'muscle injury'/exp OR 'sport injury'/exp OR 'leg injury'/exp OR injury/de OR
sport/exp OR rupture/exp OR 'tendon injury'/de)) OR 'biceps femoris muscle'/de OR 'semitendinous muscle'/de OR 'gracilis muscle'/exp OR (hamstring* OR
semitendin* OR semimembran* OR (femor* NEAR/3 biceps*) OR gracilis OR ((thigh OR buttock*) NEAR/3 (injur* OR muscle*))):ab,ti) AND ('recurrent disease'/exp
OR 'recurrence risk'/exp OR ((re NEXT/1 injur*) OR reinjur* OR recurr* OR recidiv* OR relapse*)) AND ('nuclear MRI'/exp OR 'nuclear magnetic resonance'/exp OR
'nuclear magnetic resonance scanner'/exp OR (mri OR mr OR nmr OR (magnetic NEAR/3 resonance)):ab,ti)
MEDLINE (Ovid)editing 97
(((thigh/ OR buttocks/) AND (‘Wounds and Injuries’/ OR injuries.xs. OR ’Athletic Injuries"/ OR ’Tendon Injuries’/ OR ’Leg Injuries’/ OR exp sports/ OR Rupture/))
OR (hamstring* OR semitendin* OR semimembran* OR (femor* ADJ3 biceps*) OR gracilis OR ((thigh OR buttock*) ADJ3 (injur* OR muscle*))).ab,ti.) AND
("Recurrence"/ OR ((re ADJ injur*) OR reinjur* OR recurr* OR recidiv* OR relapse*)) AND (exp "Magnetic Resonance Imaging"/ OR "nuclear magnetic
resonance’/ OR (mri OR mr OR nmr OR (magnetic ADJ3 resonance)).ab,ti.)
Cochrane Library 9
((hamstring* OR semitendin* OR semimembran* OR (femor* NEAR/3 biceps*) OR gracilis OR ((thigh OR buttock*) NEAR/3 (injur* OR muscle*))):ab,ti) AND
(((re NEXT/1 injur*) OR reinjur* OR recurr* OR recidiv* OR relapse*)) AND ((mri OR mr OR nmr OR (magnetic NEAR/3 resonance)):ab,ti)
Web of Science 97
TS=(((hamstring* OR semitendin* OR semimembran* OR (femor* NEAR/2 biceps*) OR gracilis OR ((thigh OR buttock*) NEAR/2 (injur* OR muscle*)))) AND
(((re NEAR/1 injur*) OR reinjur* OR recurr* OR recidiv* OR relapse*)) AND ((mri OR mr OR nmr OR (magnetic NEAR/2 resonance))))
Scopus 165
TITLE-ABS-KEY(((hamstring* OR semitendin* OR semimembran* OR (femor* W/2 biceps*) OR gracilis OR ((thigh OR buttock*) W/2 (injur* OR muscle*)))) AND
(((re W/1 injur*) OR reinjur* OR recurr* OR recidiv* OR relapse*)) AND ((mri OR mr OR nmr OR (magnetic W/2 resonance))))
SPORTDiscus 37
(hamstring* OR semitendin* OR semimembran* OR ‘femoral biceps" OR ’biceps femoris") AND (’re injury’ OR ’re injuries’ OR reinjur* OR recurr* OR recidiv* OR
relapse*) AND (mri OR mr OR nmr OR ‘magnetic resonance’)
CINAHL 39
(((MH thigh+ OR MH buttocks+) AND (MH ‘Wounds and Injuries’ OR MW injuries OR MH ‘Athletic Injuries+" OR MH ’Tendon Injuries+" OR MH ’Leg Injuries+’ OR
MH sports+ OR MH Rupture+)) OR (hamstring* OR semitendin* OR semimembran* OR (femor* N3 biceps*) OR gracilis OR ((thigh OR buttock*) N3 (injur* OR
muscle*)))) AND (MH ‘Recurrence+’ OR ((re N1 injur*) OR reinjur* OR recurr* OR recidiv* OR relapse*)) AND (MH ‘Magnetic Resonance Imaging+’ OR (mri OR mr
OR nmr OR (magnetic N3 resonance)))
PubMed 1
(((thigh(mh) OR buttocks(mh)) AND (‘Wounds and Injuries"(mh) OR injuries(sh) OR ’Athletic Injuries"(mh]) OR ’Tendon Injuries’(mh) OR ’Leg Injuries"((mh) OR
sports(mh) OR Rupture(mh))) OR (hamstring*(tiab) OR semitendin*[tiab] OR semimembran*(tiab) OR (femor*(tiab) AND biceps*(tiab)) OR gracilis OR ((thigh OR
buttock*(tiab)) AND (injur*(tiab) OR muscle*(tiab))))) AND ("Recurrence"(mh) OR ((re ADJ injur*(tiab)) OR reinjur*(tiab) OR recurr*(tiab) OR recidiv*(tiab) OR
relapse*(tiab))) AND ("Magnetic Resonance Imaging"(mh) OR "nuclear magnetic resonance’(mh) OR (mri OR mr OR nmr OR (magnetic AND resonance))) AND
publisher[sb]
Google Scholar 100
hamstring|hamstrings|semitendinosus|semimembranous|‘femoral biceps"|" biceps femoris"|gracilis|’thigh|buttock injur|muscle" "re
injury|injuries’|reinjury|reinjuries|recurrence|recurrent|recidive|relapse mri|mr|nmr|"magnetic resonance’
LILACS 0
(hamstring* OR semitendin* OR semimembran* OR ‘femoral biceps" OR ’biceps femoris’ OR gracilis OR ‘thigh injury" OR ’thigh injuries" OR ’thigh muscle" OR
’thigh muscles" OR ’buttocks injury" OR ’buttocks injuries" OR ’buttocks muscle" OR ’buttocks muscles") AND (’re injury’ OR ’re injuries’ OR reinjur* OR recurren*
OR recidiv* OR relaps*) AND (mri OR mr OR nmr OR ‘magnetic resonance’)
SciELO 0
(hamstring* OR semitendin* OR semimembran* OR ‘femoral biceps" OR ’biceps femoris’ OR gracilis OR ‘thigh injury" OR ’thigh injuries" OR ’thigh muscle" OR
’thigh muscles" OR ’buttocks injury" OR ’buttocks injuries" OR ’buttocks muscle" OR ’buttocks muscles") AND (’re injury’ OR ’re injuries’ OR reinjur* OR recurren*
OR recidiv* OR relaps*) AND (mri OR mr OR nmr OR ‘magnetic resonance’)
ScienceDirect 85
(hamstring*) AND (‘re injury" OR ’re injuries’ OR reinjur* OR recurren* OR recidiv* OR relaps*) AND (mri OR mr OR nmr OR ‘magnetic resonance") AND
LIMIT-TO(topics, ’mri’)
ProQuest 2
(ti(hamstring*) OR ab(hamstring*)) AND (ti(‘re injury" OR ’re injuries’ OR reinjur* OR recurren* OR recidiv* OR relaps*) OR ab(‘re injury" OR ’re injuries’ OR
reinjur* OR recurren* OR recidiv* OR relaps*)) AND (ti(mri OR mr OR nmr OR ‘magnetic resonance’) OR ab(mri OR mr OR nmr OR ’magnetic resonance’))

Coauthors of our research group, with a specific interest in ► MRI examination performed within 7 days of the acute
hamstring injuries, were asked about internationally known injury and/or follow-up MRI within 7 days of RTP.
recently completed and/or submitted diagnostic trials up to 20 ► MRI findings as a prognostic tool for hamstring re-injury
June 2016. were studied.
► The primary outcome was hamstring re-injury.
Study selection ► The study had to be an original published report.
Studies evaluating MRI performed at baseline and/or RTP as a ► Full text of the article had to be available.
prognostic tool for determining the risk of hamstring re-injury ► The article was written in English, Dutch or German
in athletes with acute hamstring injuries as an outcome measure, language.
were eligible for inclusion if they met the following criteria: All studies identified by our search strategy were imported
► Subjects with a clinical diagnosis of an acute hamstring into a citation database (Endnote 7.1, Thomson Reuters, New
injury. York, USA) and duplicates were removed. All titles and abstracts

2 van Heumen M, et al. Br J Sports Med 2017;0:1–10. doi:10.1136/bjsports-2016-096790


Review
were screened by two reviewers (GR and MHM). Full-text arti- by generally consistent findings in all studies (≥75% of the
cles considered eligible by at least one researcher were obtained studies reported consistent findings).
and assessed independently, by the same two reviewers (GR and 3. Limited evidence: provided by only one study with high risk
MM), using the inclusion criteria. When the assessors did not of bias.
agree on inclusion of a study, a meeting was scheduled to seek 4. Conflicting evidence: inconsistent findings in multiple
consensus. When no consensus was met, a third reviewer (MvH) studies (<75% of the studies reported consistent findings).
made the final decision on inclusion of the study. 5. No evidence: when no studies could be found.

Data extraction RESULTS


One reviewer (MvH) extracted the data of all included studies Literature search
using a standardised data extraction form to ensure a uniform The initial search yielded 842 records. Eleven studies met the
data collection. From studies, written by the same (co-)author inclusion criteria and were included in this review10–20 (figure 1).
and using the same data set, we included only the data of the
most recent study. Description of included studies
The following data were extracted: general study informa- Table 2 presents some of the characteristics of the included
tion, study population, study characteristics, details of the MRI studies.10–20 An extended version of the characteristics is included
(magnetic field strength, coil, sequences, time to repetition, time in the appendix (see online supplement 2). A supplementary
to echo, time to inversion, echo train length, flip angle, thick- appendix provides an overview of the MRI protocols used in the
ness sections/gap, field of view and matrix), MRI findings and included studies (see online supplement 3).
outcome of the analysis of association between MRI findings and
hamstring re-injury. Primary investigators of the reports included Risk of bias assessment
were contacted when information on data to be extracted was Table 3 shows the scores on the potential risk of bias domains of
missing. the included studies. Seven studies had a low risk of bias11–15 17 20
and four studies had a high risk of bias.10 16 18 19 High risk of bias
was frequently related to lack of adequate description or adjust-
Risk of bias assessment ment of the outcome of measurements, inappropriate adjustment
Two reviewers (R-JdV and JLT) independently assessed the for confounders and inappropriate statistical analysis.
potential risk of bias of the studies included, using the criteria of For the specific items for opportunity of bias there was
the consensus statement of Hayden et al.4 8 This risk of bias assess- disagreement in 22 out of the 242 assessed items (9%), for which
ment tool assessed six potential bias domains, each consisting of consensus was reached by the two reviewers in two consensus
specific items for opportunity of bias (see online supplement 1). meetings. A third reviewer (JO) assessed the three articles where
If there was a difference in opinion on an item, a consensus was at least one of the primary risk of bias assessors was involved as
reached by the two reviewers. If no consensus was reached, the coauthor. For one article16 there was a difference in outcome of
independent opinion of a third reviewer (MvH) was decisive. the overall risk of bias categorisation with the third independent
When at least one of the primary risk of bias assessors was assessor. Finally, consensus was reached by the three assessors on
involved as a coauthor, an independent experienced assessor the risk of bias categorisation for this article.
(JO) evaluated the concerning article as third assessor to exclude
bias as a result of detailed knowledge of these published studies Determinants related to re-injury
by the authors. If there was a difference in outcome of the Owing to clinical and methodological heterogeneity (varying
overall risk of bias categorisation (low risk or high risk of bias), definitions of re-injury, length of follow-up and methodological
a consensus was reached by the three assessors. If no consensus quality), it was not possible to perform pooling of the data.21
was reached, the independent opinion of the third assessor was A qualitative analysis of the data was carried out using the best
decisive. evidence synthesis methodology.
As shown on the risk of bias form each of the six potential bias Table 4 presents an overview of all the reported MRI findings,
domains consisted of two to five specific items. When ≥75% of their association with re-injury and the corresponding level of
these items within a domain were fulfilled, we considered the evidence according to the best-evidence synthesis.
bias low in that domain. To have overall low risk of bias, a study
should have low bias on at least five out of the six domains. Baseline MRI
Strong evidence
Data synthesis No strong evidence for any MRI finding as risk factor for
We considered pooling data when studies were sufficiently hamstring re-injury was found.
statistically and clinically homogeneous. The process by which Strong evidence for the absence of association with hamstring
we planned to perform data pooling (calculating relative risks re-injury was found for five determinants.
and performing a sensitivity analysis) is described in detail in Two studies with low risk of bias found that there was no asso-
the protocol registered (PROSPERO, registration number ciation between grading (grade 0–III, according to Peetrons) and
CRD42015024620). If data could not be pooled because of hamstring re-injury.11 20
clinical and methodological heterogeneity, a qualitative anal- The specific hamstring muscle involved (biceps femoris,
ysis of the data was carried out using the five levels of evidence semimembranosus or semitendinosus), identified on MRI,
according to van Tulder et al.9 showed strong evidence for no association with hamstring
1. Strong evidence: provided by two or more studies with low re-injury. Ekstrand et al11–13 found a positive association for
risk of bias and by generally consistent findings in all studies the biceps femoris versus the semimembranosus and the semi-
(≥75% of the studies reported consistent findings). tendinosus, but four other studies, of which three studies
2. Moderate evidence: provided by one study with low risk of with low risk of bias, found no significant association for this
bias and/or two or more studies with high risk of bias and determinant.14 15 19 20

van Heumen M, et al. Br J Sports Med 2017;0:1–10. doi:10.1136/bjsports-2016-096790 3


Review
Limited evidence
Limited evidence for no relationship with hamstring re-injury
was found for the number of muscles involved and transverse
size of the hyperintensity signal.17

MRI at RTP
Strong evidence
There is no strong evidence for an association between MRI
parameters at RTP and hamstring re-injury.

Moderate evidence
Moderate evidence for no association with hamstring re-injury
was found for the presence of intramuscular fibrosis, longitu-
dinal length of fibrosis, length of fibrosis on axial view, width of
fibrosis on axial view, volume of fibrosis and the involved muscle
with fibrosis on MRI.17

Limited evidence
Limited evidence for no association with hamstring re-injury was
found for the presence of a hyperintensity signal, a normalised
T2-hyperintensity signal, length and CSA of the hyperintensity
signal on MRI.16 18

Critical post hoc analysis


A not predefined project team consensus meeting on data
interpretation revealed that despite the fact that the majority
of included studies were at low risk of bias as assessed by the
Hayden system, this system was not suitable to detect poten-
Figure 1 Study selection flow diagram. tially underpowered studies. The studies included between
4 and 41 re-injuries. With relatively low numbers there was a
high risk of a type 2 error (not finding an association when one
There is also strong evidence for no relationship of injury was actually present). According to Bahr et al22 20–50 re-injury
location on MRI with hamstring re-injury, as two studies with cases were needed to detect moderate to strong associations,
low risk of bias reported no association with injury location.14 whereas small to moderate associations would need about 200
15
Koulouris et al14 compared athletes that sustained a re- re-injured subjects. The assessment of these type 2 errors were
injury with athletes that did not have a re-injury during the not taken into account in our predefined research protocol, but
same competition period. There was no statistically significant would substantially affect the outcome of the systematic review.
difference in the number of lesions located at the musculoten- Therefore additional analysis was performed on the only two
dinous junction, myofascial, mixed, tendon-bone and proximal studies with ≥20 re-injuries (Ekstrand et al13 and Reurink et al17
tendon between these groups. Pollock et al15 categorised the (table 4)). The study of Ekstrand et al13 showed a moderate to
injury location as proximal, central and distal injuries and strong association of injury to the biceps femoris and hamstring
they did not find an association between this classification and re-injury compared with injury to the semimembranosus or
re-injury. semitendinosus muscle. No association with hamstring re-in-
Four studies, of which two studies were with low risk of jury was found for grading according to Peetrons on baseline
bias, found that an increased length of the hyperintensity signal MRI. The study of Reurink et al17 found that fibrosis on MRI at
was not associated with higher re-injury risk, so there is strong RTP is not associated with hamstring re-injury. The detection of
evidence for no relationship with hamstring re-injury.10 14 18 20 determinants with a possible small to moderate association with
The CSA of the hyperintensity signal was not associated with re-injury was not possible, as this required larger sample sizes.
hamstring re-injury. Only a study with high risk of bias by Silder Qualitative analysis showed a moderate level of evidence
et al18 found that the re-injured subjects had a significantly for these three determinants (table 4). So there was moderate
greater per cent area injured on initial MRI. However, three evidence for a moderate to strong association of injury to the
other studies (two with low risk of bias and one with high risk of biceps femoris and hamstring re-injury, moderate evidence for no
bias) reported no difference.10 14 20 association of grading according to Peetrons on baseline MRI and
hamstring re-injury and moderate evidence for no association of
Moderate evidence the presence of fibrosis on MRI at RTP and hamstring re-injury.
Two determinants with a positive association with hamstring
re-injury were found in this systematic review. There is moderate DISCUSSION
evidence for intratendinous injuries identified on MRI and clas- Main findings
sification according to the British Muscle Injury Classification, This review showed no strong evidence for any MRI finding at
both found by Pollock et al.15 the time of injury or RTP as a risk factor for hamstring re-in-
Moderate evidence for no relationship with hamstring re- jury. At baseline, there was moderate evidence that intratendinous
injury was found for distance of the lesion to the ischial tuber- injuries, identified on MRI and therefore grading according to
osity and hyperintensity signal volume of the lesion.19 20 the British Muscle Injury Classification, were associated with

4 van Heumen M, et al. Br J Sports Med 2017;0:1–10. doi:10.1136/bjsports-2016-096790


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Table 2 Characteristics of included studies


First Number of MRI findings of the lesion Association between MRI finding and hamstring re-injury
author re-injuries,
re-injury Significant Non-significant
period
Baseline MRI
Gibbs et al10 n=6 (19.4%), Length of hyperintensity Re-injury 8 cm (IQR 5–17) versus no re-injury
same playing 11 cm (IQR 9–15). p=0.73.
season*
CSA of hyperintensity Re-injury 31% (IQR 19–86) versus no re-injury
41% (IQR 36–49). p=0.78.
Ekstrand n=41 Involved muscle Re-injury versus no re-injury: BF: 39/212=18%.
et al13 (16.1%),<2 SM + ST: 1/41=2%. p=0.009.
Hallén and months
Grading (according to Peetrons) Re-injury versus no re-injury of grade 1 and
Ekstrand11
grade 2 injuries: p=0.95.
Ekstrand
et al12
Koulouris n=10 (=24.4%), Length of hyperintensity Re-injury: median 95 mm (range 60–150) and
et al14 same playing mean 98.7 (±27) mm versus no re-injury: median
season 75 mm (range 18–240) and mean 83.8 (±44) mm.
p=0.35.
CSA of hyperintensity Re-injury: mean 18.5 (±11.7)% and median
12.5% (range 5–40%) versus no re-injury: mean
19.7 (±15.3)% and median 15% (range 5–60%).
p=0.82.
Involved muscle Re-injury versus no re-injury: BF: 8 versus 26.
SM: 0 versus 3. ST: 0 versus 2. Mixed: 2 versus
0. p=0.20.
Injury location Re-injury versus no re-injury: Musculotendinous
junction: 5 versus 16. Myofascial: 4 versus 11.
Mixed: 0 versus 2. Tendon-bone: 0 versus 2.
Proximal tendon: 1 versus 0. p=0.89.
Pollock n=6 (9.2%)†,<3 Grading (according to BAMIC) Re-injury versus no re-injury:
et al15 months Grade 0: 1 versus 20. Grade 1a: 0 versus 5. Grade
1b: 2 versus 2. Grade 2a: 0 versus 2. Grade 2b:
1 versus 16. Grade 2c: 5 versus 3. Grade 3a: 0
versus 0. Grade 3b: 0 versus 1. Grade 3c: 4 versus
3. Grade 4: 0 versus 0. Fisher’s exact test, two-
tailed p=0.025, n=44.
Grading (according to the number Fisher's exact test, two-tailed p=1.000, n=44.
(1–3) within BAMIC)
Injury location Proximal versus central versus distal injuries:
Fisher’s exact test, two-tailed p=0.269, n=44.
Intratendinous injuries (according to Fisher's exact test, two-tailed p=0.030, n=44.
the letter
(a–c) within
BAMIC)
Involved muscle BF long head versus SM versus ST versus BF short
head: Fisher’s exact test, two-tailed p=0.077,
n=40.
Silder et al18 n=4 (16%), CSA of hyperintensity Re-injury: 87% (95% CI: 68%, 100%) versus
1 year no re-injury: 54% (95% CI: 43%, 65%). p=0.015.
Length of hyperintensity p=NR, but>0.05.

Verrall et n=12 (40%) in Transverse size of hyperintensity Re-injury: mean 46.8%±23.3% versus no re-
al19 the same injury: mean 46.0%±29.1%. p>0,05.
season‡, the
Volume size of hyperintensity Re-injury: mean 31.6 cm3±47.5 cm3 versus no
same and
re-injury: 36.2 cm3±44.6 c m3. p>0.05.
subsequent
playing season Muscle involved Biceps femoris principal injured muscle: n=26.
Re-injury 9 versus no re-injury 17. p>0.05.
Number of muscles involved Only one muscle injured: n=17. Re-injury 7 versus
no
re-injury 10. p>0.05.
Continued

van Heumen M, et al. Br J Sports Med 2017;0:1–10. doi:10.1136/bjsports-2016-096790 5


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Table 2 Continued
First Number of MRI findings of the lesion Association between MRI finding and hamstring re-injury
author re-injuries,
Significant Non-significant
re-injury
period
De Vos n=17 (27%), Muscle involved BF: n=56. ST/SM: n=8. HR 0.5 (95% CI 0.1 to 3.4).
et al20 ≤1 year p=0440.
Grading (according to Peetrons) Grade 1: n=18. Grade 2: n=46. HR 1.3 (0.4–4.1).
p=0624.

Volume of hyperintensity HR 1.00 (1.00–1.00). p=0112.

CSA of hyperintensity HR 0,95 (0,18–5,11). p=0947.

Length of hyperintensity HR 1,00 (0,99–1,01). p=0525.

Distance to tuber HR 1,00 (0,98–1,00). p=0978.

MRI al RTP
Reurink n=5 (9%), Hyperintensity present Re-injury 80% (4 out of 5 subjects) versus no re-
et al16 <2 months injury 90% (43 out of 48 subjects). p=NR.
Length of hyperintensity Re-injury: median 65 mm (range 0–94 mm) versus
no re-injury: median 73 mm (range 0–220 mm).
p=NR.
CSA of hyperintensity Re-injury: median 14% (range 0–31%) versus no
re-injury: median 8% (range 0–90%). p=NR.
Reurink n=26 (24.1%), Fibrosis present Re-injury: 16 (out of 26=62%) versus no re-injury:
et al17 <1 year 51 (out of 82=62%). HR 0.95 (95% CI 0.43 to2.1;
p=0.898).
Involved muscle with fibrosis Re-injury: 10 of 10 in BF, 0 in SM and ST versus
no re-injury: 26 in BF, 5 in SM and 0 in ST. p=NR.
Longitudinal length of fibrosis Re-injury 3.3 cm (IQR 2.5–7.8) versus no re-injury
6.5 cm (IQR 4.0–14.5). p=NR.
Length of fibrosis on axial view Re-injury 0.7 cm (IQR 0.5–1.5) versus no re-injury
1.0 cm (IQR 0.7–1.4). p=NR.
Width of fibrosis on axial view Re-injury 0.4 cm (IQR 0.2–0.6) versus no re-injury
0.5 cm (IQR 0.3–0.7). p=NR.
Volume of fibrosis Re-injury 0.4 cm (IQR 0.2–4.2) versus no re-injury
2.0 cm (IQR 0.7–3.9). p=NR.
Silder et al18 n=4 (16%), Normalised T2 hyperintensity p=NR, but>0.05.
1 year
BAMIC, British Athletics Muscle Injury Classification; BF, biceps femoris; CSA, cross-sectional area; NR, not reported; RTP, return to play; SM, semimembranosus; ST,
semitendinosus.
*Hamstring injuries that occurred just prior to a Christmas or end of season break period which could not be monitored during rehabilitation were excluded.

We excluded the exacerbations of symptoms before returning to play during rehabilitation and asked Pollock et al for new data of only the re-injuries after RTP (n=6),
because this possibly would influence the results. The data of the determinants with a non-significant association with re-injury are not recalculated.

From the study of Verrall et al we only used the data from the same season as the hamstring injury, not the data from the subsequent season, because in the data synthesis
we only can use one data set per article and the follow-up of one season gave the best comparison with the length of follow-up of the other studies (follow-up varying from
2 months to a maximum of 1 year).

hamstring re-injury risk. At RTP there was moderate evidence De Visser et al,5 Rubin et al6 and Freckleton et al7 reported in
that fibrosis on MRI was not associated with hamstring re-injury. their previous systematic reviews three MRI variables as a risk
However, this best evidence synthesis did not include correction factor for hamstring re-injury: larger volume size of the initial
for the (small) sample sizes. Our post hoc analysis, including two trauma, a grade 1 hamstring injury at initial trauma compared
studies with sufficient sample size and a low risk of bias, showed with grade 0 and grade 2 injuries (classification according to
moderate evidence for a moderate to strong association of injury to Peetrons) and greater length of the initial injury, seen as oedema
the biceps femoris and hamstring re-injury compared with injury (>6 cm long) on MRI. For all three determinants this did not
to the semimembranosus or semitendinosus muscle. Moderate match our results, where we found moderate, strong and strong
evidence for absence of an association with hamstring re-injury evidence, respectively, for an absence of association.
was found at baseline for grading (according to Peetrons) and at This difference could mainly be explained by the inclusion
RTP for the presence of fibrosis on MRI. The determinants intra- of new and qualitative better studies in our review. Of the five
tendinous injuries and grading according to the British Muscle studies included by de Visser et al,5 three were also included in
Injury Classification were not analysed in these two studies. our review.10 14 19 In the other two studies they only performed

6 van Heumen M, et al. Br J Sports Med 2017;0:1–10. doi:10.1136/bjsports-2016-096790


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Table 3 Risk of bias assessment The heterogeneous follow-up time frames complicated
comparing studies. For example, if the follow-up time was 2
Potential bias domain*
months, less re-injuries were to be expected than with a 1-year
Study 1 2 3 4 5 6 Risk of bias† follow-up.
Gibbs et al10 – + + – – + High The length of follow-up within a time frame also could vary
Hallén and Ekstrand11 + + + + – + Low a lot. If this length was a standard period, such as one playing
Ekstrand et al12 + + + + – + Low season, every patient would have a different exposure time to
Ekstrand et al13 + + + + – + Low hamstring re-injury, depending on when they get injured during
Koulouris et al14 + + + – + + Low the season. As a consequence the re-injury risk could vary
Pollock et al15 + + + + + + Low
substantially. Players who get injured at the end of the season,
had a very short follow-up duration till the end of the playing
Reurink et al16‡ + + + + – – High
season. In the analysis, appropriate adjustment for this expo-
Reurink et al17‡ + + + + + + Low
sure time is needed. For further studies standardisation of the
Silder et al18 + + + + – – High
follow-up should be defined.
Verrall et al19 + + + – – + High
Two studies also included an exacerbation of symptoms
de Vos et al20‡ + + + + – + Low before RTP during rehabilitation as re-injuries.15 18 According
+
potential risk of bias limited sufficiently, to the definition of Fuller et al23 a re-injury can only occur

potential risk of bias.
following RTP. Therefore it is questionable if these exacerba-
*Domain 1: study participation, domain 2: study attrition, domain 3: prognostic
tions of symptoms should be regarded as a re-injury or require
factor measurement, domain 4: outcome measurement, domain 5: confounding
measurement and account, domain 6: analysis.
another definition. Additional analysis by Pollock et al,15 after

Low risk of bias requires positive scores on at least five out of the six domains.
communication with them, and with exclusion of these cases
with exacerbations of symptoms instead of a ‘real’ re-injury, still

Articles also scored by an independent third assessor (JO), because at least one
of the primary risk of bias assessors (R-JdV and JLT) was involved as coauthor. For showed a statistically significant association for classification
the article of Reurink et al17 JO scored the same at each item as R-JdV and JLT according to the British Muscle Injury Classification and intra-
did. For the article of de Vos et al20 there was a difference in just one item, but tendinous injuries with re-injury. In the study of Silder et al,18
with the same overall risk of bias categorisation. For the article of Reurink et al16 only two of the four described re-injuries were ‘real’ re-injuries
there also was a difference on one item, but this gave a difference in outcome of after RTP. For this study, we performed no additional analysis
the overall risk of bias categorisation. Consensus over this item and thus the risk
with exclusion of the exacerbations, because this study was
of bias categorisation for this article was reached by the three assessors.
already the most underpowered one and this would not have
changed the results.
Finally, only four studies defined the clinical characteristics of
clinical examination instead of MRI examination. In the review a re-injury, such as worsening functional and clinical tests, modi-
of Rubin et al6 only 2 studies10 14 presented data about MRI find- fication of rehabilitation or training for greater than 48 hours
ings as a risk factor for hamstring re-injury, and in the review of and time loss from training or match play.15 18–20 In other studies,
Freckleton7 3 of the 34 included studies.10 14 19 These studies were these characteristics had not been specified.
the same as presented by de Visser et al. The above mentioned discrepancies on re-injury definition
Another cause was the difference in re-injury definition; de between the included studies, emphasises that there is a lack of
Visser et al used data from another time frame from the study of consensus on this subject.
Verrall et al than we did.
Confounding factors
Re-injury definition As we were interested in the independent relationship between
The reported incidence of hamstring re-injuries in this systematic MRI determinants and hamstring re-injury we used the
review ranged from 9% to 40%. This wide range could be poten- correction of confounders as an important quality criteria.
tially explained by the different definitions of location, diagnosis Unfortunately, only three studies14 15 17 adequately described
and time frame used in the 11 included articles (table 2). Descrip- potential confounders and appropriately accounted for them in
tion of the injury location varied from ‘injury in the same limb’ the study design or analysis to sufficiently limit the potential bias
to ‘injury to the same hamstring muscle’ or ‘injury of the same (table 3, domain 5).
type and at the same site as an index injury’. There was currently Pollock et al15 reported a statistically significant association
no consensus on what constitutes a re-injury. with hamstring re-injury for both grading according to the
The diagnosis of any re-injury was confirmed by MRI in two British Muscle Injury Classification and intratendinous injuries
studies, clinical examination in five studies and monitoring with identified on MRI. Involvement of the tendon, however, was
telephone calls in three studies. a part of the above grading system, so hamstring injuries that
The time frame of re-injury definition differed among the extended into the tendon (grade ‘c’ in the grading system) were
studies (table 2). This time frame varied from ‘2 months after more prone to hamstring re-injury. In other words, high grading
return to play (RTP)’, ‘during the same season/competition in the classification system also implied a high risk of tendon
period’ to ‘1 year’. The exception was Verrall et al,19 who used involvement. Thus the significance of intratendinous injuries
both the same as well as the subsequent season and therefore ensured that grading according to the British Muscle Injury Clas-
showed two different data sets of results. We only used the data sification also showed a significant difference.
from the same season as the hamstring injury, not the data from In the study of Reurink et al16 the majority of the participants
the subsequent season, because in the data synthesis we used received an intramuscular injection (with platelet rich plasma
one data set per article and the follow-up of one season gave or normal saline). The effect of these injections on hamstring
the best comparison with the length of follow-up of the other muscle healing and MRI appearance is still unknown and
studies (follow-up varying from 2 months to a maximum of possibly postinjection changes of the needle and/or the injected
1 year). fluid are visible on MRI weeks later. This might have influenced
van Heumen M, et al. Br J Sports Med 2017;0:1–10. doi:10.1136/bjsports-2016-096790 7
Review

Table 4 Overview of the studied MRI findings at baseline and at RTP. The risk of bias, the association with re-injury and the corresponding level of
evidence are presented for each MRI finding according to the best-evidence synthesis and the corresponding level of evidence
Low risk High risk
MRI finding of bias of bias Best evidence synthesis* Post hoc analysis*
Association Level of Association (according to Level of
evidence Bahr et al) evidence
Baseline MRI
Grading (according to Peetrons, grade 0–III) –11–13 20 No Strong No Moderate
Grading (according to the British Muscle Injury Classification) +15 Yes Moderate
Number of muscles involved –19 No Limited
Involved muscle +11–13 –19 No Strong Yes, moderate to strong Moderate
–14 15 20
Injury location No Strong
▶ Musculotendinous junction, myofascial, mixed, tendon-bone or –14
proximal tendon
▶ Proximal, central or distal –15
Intratendinous injuries +15 Yes Moderate
Distance of lesion to the ischial tuberosity –20 No Moderate
Length of hyperintensity signal –14 20 –10 18 No Strong
Transverse size of hyperintensity signal –19 No Limited
CSA of hyperintensity signal –14 20 –10 No Strong
+18
Hyperintensity signal volume –20 –19 No Moderate
MRI at RTP
Presence of hyperintensity signal –16 No Limited
Normalised T2- hyperintensity signal –18 No Limited
Length of hyperintensity signal –16 No Limited
CSA of hyperintensity signal –16 No Limited
Presence of intramuscular fibrosis –17 No Moderate No Moderate
Longitudinal length of fibrosis –17 No Moderate No Moderate
Length of fibrosis on axial view –17 No Moderate No Moderate
Width of fibrosis on axial view –17 No Moderate No Moderate
Volume of fibrosis –17 No Moderate
Involved muscle with fibrosis –17 No Moderate

no significant association as a prognostic factor of re-injury,
+
significant association as a prognostic factor of re-injury.
*The studies of Hallén and Ekstrand,11 Ekstrand et al12 and Ekstrand et al13 used the same data set and are therefore considered as one study in the best evidence synthesis
and critical post hoc analysis.
CSA, cross-sectional area; RTP, return to play.

the findings of the MRI and makes it difficult to draw firm and methodological quality. This limited the interpretation
conclusions. of the magnitude of the reported associations. However, the
Most of the other remaining studies did not mention possible quality of a systematic review is not dependent on the presence
confounders. of meta-analysis, but is dependent on the quality of the studies
included. Pooling data from papers with a high risk of bias actu-
Limitations ally compounds the bias.24
Our review had some potential limitations. The most important one Data extraction of the 11 included articles was suboptimal,
was the relative low numbers of reported re-injuries of the majority as it was performed by just one person instead of two persons.
of included articles of this review. Only two articles included ≥20 Finally, we conducted a thorough search using multiple data-
re-injuries (n=2617 and n=41,13) which was generally considered bases, but our search was limited to English, Dutch or German
to be sufficient to detect moderate to strong associations. With language. We potentially excluded relevant studies published in
these potential underpowered studies we could not exclude a type other languages. There is also a possibility of publication bias,
2 error, which would influence the results. For example, when we because we only included published literature.
viewed the results of all studies together, the specific hamstring
muscle involved on MRI showed strong evidence for no associa- Clinical relevance
tion with hamstring re-injury. While when we took the results of The fact that there is moderate evidence that biceps femoris
only the sufficiently powered studies (post hoc analysis), there was injuries and intratendinous injuries, both identified on baseline
moderate evidence for a moderate to strong association of injury MRI, are associated with a higher hamstring re-injury risk might
to the biceps femoris and hamstring re-injury. have consequences for interpreting baseline MRIs. Although
We refrained from statistical pooling of the data, because of biceps femoris injury can be established by clinical examina-
the clinical and methodological heterogeneity of the studies tion, detecting an intratendinous injury on clinical examination
with regard to definitions, outcome measures, MRI findings is probably difficult to achieve with confidence. MRI could be

8 van Heumen M, et al. Br J Sports Med 2017;0:1–10. doi:10.1136/bjsports-2016-096790


Review
used to detect tendon involvement for estimating the re-injury
risk. MRI at RTP shows no positive associations with re-in-
What are the new findings
jury, and thus seems to have little added value for predicting
► Based on the current evidence, there is no strong evidence
hamstring re-injury.
At the time of acute injury (baseline), clinical examination
for any MRI finding at baseline and/or return to play in
might be of more added value than MRI. Clinical factors seem
predicting hamstring re-injury risk.
► At baseline MRI there is moderate evidence that
to be important for the estimation of re-injury risk; the number
of previous hamstring injuries, active knee extension deficit,
intratendinous injuries are associated with a higher
isometric knee flexion force deficit at 15°, and presence of local-
re-injury risk.
► There is considerable risk of bias in the majority of current
ised discomfort on palpation just after RTP are all associated
with a higher hamstring re-injury rate.20 Previous ipsilateral ACL
studies due to inclusion of potentially underpowered
reconstruction is also a risk factor for re-injury.5
studies. Additional analysis of the only two studies with
a sufficient sample size showed moderate evidence for a
moderate to strong association of biceps femoris injury
Future directions
with re-injury
Given the identified limitations, we recommend for further
research studies to have larger sample sizes: 20–50 re-injury
cases are needed to detect moderate to strong associations,
whereas small to moderate associations would need about 200 How might it impact on clinical practice in the near future
re-injured cases.22 Adequately describing and accounting for
potential confounders and an appropriate statistical analysis will ► Biceps femoris injury can be established by clinical exami-
improve the study quality. nation and other clinical factors seem to be important for
For standardising the quality assessment a uniform, reliable the estimation of re-injury risk. Detecting an intratendinous
and validated risk of bias assessment tool for prognostic studies injury on clinical examination is probably difficult to achieve
is indicated. Screening the sample size for power detection is with confidence, so MRI could be used to detect tendon
recommended as a separate score. involvement for estimating the re-injury risk.
The heterogeneity of the re-injury definition requires further ► MRI at RTP shows no positive associations with re-injury and
delineation of the length of follow-up (preferably 2 months for thus seems to have little added value for predicting hamstring
the early and 1 year for the mid-term re-injuries), description of re-injury.
the precise location of the injury and confirmation of the diag-
nosis by at least clinical examination.

a hamstring re-injury. For all other determinants no association


CONCLUSION
with hamstring re-injury was found.
This review of seven low and four high risk of bias prospec-
Due to inclusion of potentially underpowered studies, addi-
tive studies found no strong evidence for association of any
tional analysis of the only two studies with a sufficient sample
MRI finding at baseline and/or RTP with hamstring re-injury.
size (≥20 re-injuries) showed moderate evidence for a moderate
For baseline MRI findings, there is moderate evidence that
to strong association of biceps femoris injury, identified on MRI,
intratendinous injuries and therefore higher grading according
with hamstring re-injury.
to the British Muscle Injury Classification are associated with
Acknowledgements The authors thank WM Bramer (biomedical information
specialist in the Erasmus University Medical Center, Rotterdam, the Netherlands) for
assistance in the search strategy.
Contributors All authors have contributed to the development of the research
What is already known question and study design. MvH and RdV developed the literature search, whilst
GR and MHM performed the study selection. JLT, R-JdV and JO achieved the
► Hamstring injuries are associated with high re-injury rates, risk of bias assessment. MvH extracted the data and made a data synthesis of
despite efforts in the prevention and management of these the included studies. MvH developed the first draft, all authors developed the
injuries. subsequent drafts of the manuscript. All authors reviewed and approved the
manuscript.
► Clinical parameters that are associated with a higher
hamstring re-injury rate are: active knee extension deficit, Funding JT received funding from the Marti-Keuning-Eckhardt Foundation for
the preparation of this review, but none of the authors was personally financially
isometric knee flexion force deficit at 15° and presence compensated.
of localised discomfort on palpation just after return to
Competing interests None declared.
play (RTP). The number of previous hamstring injuries and
previous ipsilateral ACL reconstruction are also risk factors Provenance and peer review Not commissioned; externally peer reviewed.
for re-injury. © Article author(s) (or their employer(s) unless otherwise stated in the text of the
► The best available evidence from three previous system- article) 2017. All rights reserved. No commercial use is permitted unless otherwise
expressly granted.
atic reviews shows three MRI variables to be related to
risk for hamstring re-injury: larger volume size of the
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